Cape Town - People have been warned not to eat geese believed to have been poisoned near a dam in the Boland.
Hundreds of domestic and Egyptian geese were found dead on the banks of a dam on a property between Durbanville and Wellington on the R312.
The dead birds were first found two weeks ago but fresh carcasses were found as recently as Tuesday.
Allan Perrins, chief executive of the Cape of Good Hope SPCA, said the likely culprit was a livestock farmer who didn’t want the geese eating their animals’ food.
“Livestock farmers are having to put down supplementary food because of the drought which can cost thousands of rands.”
The SPCA was first alerted by a compost manufacturer in the area who asked them to investigate the mass poisoning of “hundreds” of water fowl.
Megan Reid, an inspector with the SPCA wildlife unit, said a report was expected from the state vet after sending through contaminated seed and a few carcasses to the Western Cape Department of Agriculture for testing.
Perrins said there was concern about non-target species that may have predated on the toxic dead birds.
“Depending on what poison was used to lace the seed, many of the birds could have suffered slow, agonising deaths – this would also apply to any animal that consumed the contaminated carcass.”
Although the birds have since been buried, people have been warned not to eat them if they picked them up and not to feed them to their pets.
Perrins said it was also likely that the water source may have been contaminated by the decomposing carcasses which placed livestock and other animals, dependent on these non-potable water supplies, at risk.
In 2009, hundreds of ducks, swans, geese and other birds were poisoned in Johannesburg after eating grain laced with what was believed to be alpha-chloralose, a pest control agent commonly used to kill birds.
l Anyone with information about the incident should contact 021 700 4158/9.
Cape Argus